It is known in the art of automotive vehicle body design to provide forward seat assemblies for a driver and a front passenger, a rear seat assembly, and an intermediate seat assembly located at a mid-vehicle position. An example of such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,709.
The vehicle of the '709 patent disclosure is a so-called mini-van having a side entry sliding door and a rear access door. The side entry door permits entry of passengers to either the intermediate seat or the rear seat assemblies. The rear door permits access to a storage platform for carrying cargo.
The rear seat assembly of the '709 patent includes a seat-back support portion that may be folded forward over its seat portion. A seat back support portion of the intermediate seat assembly also may be tilted forward over its seat portion about an axis located at the rearward edge of the seat portion so that the seat back support portion forms a cargo-carrying platform as an extension of a cargo-carrying platform defined by the seat back portion of the rear seat assembly. If desired, the seat back support portion of the rear seat assembly may be folded forward independently of the intermediate seat assembly so that the bottom of the folded seat portion may form a partial extension of a permanent cargo-carrying platform. The side entry door may be used to access the enlarged cargo-carrying space when the intermediate and the rear seat assemblies are folded in this fashion.